Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has journalists in every state and territory. Sign up here to get it by email, or here to forward it to a friend. Today's is written by Stock Journal editor Elizabeth Anderson.
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In the past few months, I have seen a few conversations about some of the silver linings of COVID-19 - the things people are happy to see stick around.
For many, it's the easier option to work from home. Others like the increased availability of hand sanitiser while out and about.
I quite like the change in culture about not going out and "soldiering on" when sick - only to infect those around you.
Similarly, while I am hopeful all the extra awareness of potential livestock threats, such as foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease, may come to nothing, there have been some positive changes to come from this situation.
Part of that is increased awareness from the general public that seemingly harmless choices can have a big impact.
Sure, you might not mean to cause trouble by not declaring that food product, but that could be what costs this country millions - if not billions - of dollars.
Another is that after years of the industry expressing its concerns about biosecurity funding, suddenly, biosecurity is the hot topic.
Like the increased attention paid to washing our hands, I also think there are some potential benefits in encouraging farmers to look at their own properties and how they can protect them.
In a recent - completely non-scientifically rigorous - survey of the readers of South Australian agricultural newspaper Stock Journal, 75 per cent of respondents said they had an on-property biosecurity plan in place.
It is also ram selling season here in SA, where seed stock producers open their farmgates and have potential buyers all come and see their livestock.
I've heard from a number of journalists covering these events that quite a few sheep studs have instigated new protocols, including foot baths, to help keep their properties a bit safer.
At the recent Royal Adelaide Show, foot baths were also in place.
While there is no FMD in Australia, there are other nasties, including footrot, which no farmer wants.
So taking these steps seems a good move, regardless of what's happening in a nearby country.
Let's hope we can learn from what has happened before and make a few small culture changes and avoid the pain of a biosecurity outbreak all together.
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